Wednesday, 26/09/2018 17:08 (GMT+7)
The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Unification Minister Cho Myung-gyon on September 24th said the government will increase efforts to reconnect families separated for decades since the Korean War.
(Source: Yonhap/VNA)
Mr. Cho was speaking to a group of divided families who jointly celebrated the Chuseok holiday at Imjingak Park in Paju, just south of the demilitarized zone.
For both Koreas, the problem of divided families is an urgent task that can't be delayed, Minister Cho said in an address. "The scene of divided families exchanging their addresses and wishing for each other's health in the recent reunion event touched people's hearts. We will make all efforts to help them keep their promise of seeing each other again."
Earlier, the two sides held reunions for such families from August 20th-26th at Mount Kumgang on the DPRK’s scenic east coast, with 100 families from each side.
The first session of the reunions for families separated by the Korean War took place from August 20th - 22nd and the second session of reunions took place from August 24th - 26th.
The reunion program began in 1985, stalled, then got underway at the turn of the millennium. In all, more than 17,000 people of the RoK have taken part in more than 20 meetings, seeing their relatives in person or over video link. But more than 130,000 have registered as members of divided families since the program began, and more than half of them died before getting to see their relatives again. Many on the waiting list are older than 90.
The reunions, which were the first in about three years, are among steps promised by DPRK's leader Kim Jong-un and RoK's President Moon Jae-in, to improve relations that had deteriorated over the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs./.
Compiled by BTA